Women’s 4x400 Breaks School Record on Second Day of New Balance Collegiate Invitational

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The UMBC women's 4x400m relay team
of sophomores Paulette Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara)
and Kalane' Abbey (Laurel, Md./Laurel), freshman D'Nique
Phillip (Elkton, Md.), and junior Kirsten
Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet) broke the UMBC
school record as the Retrievers' track and field team competed on
the second day of the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, Saturday
afternoon at the Armory.

The Retriever relay finished the event in fifth-place, but with
a time of 3:46.97, to break the previous record of 3:48.54, which
was set last year.

UMBC also received record-breaking performances in the 5,000m
run. Sophomore Julie
Gessler (Ellicott City, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) led a
trio of Retrievers with a personal-best time of 18:14.52 to move up
to ninth all-time in school history. Freshmen Nicole Dawson (Jessup, Md./Hammond) and Harmony Roche (Millersville, Md./Severn School)
also set personal-records to move to tenth and 12th, respectively,
in the UMBC record book.

Though not in New York, junior Vinny
DiSalvo (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) also broke
into the Retrievers' top-ten with a time of 15:12.62 at the
McElligott Invitational at Haverford College.

Back at the Armory in the triple jump, senior Shioma
Obemeata (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Prep/St. Francis)
furthered his personal-best with a leap of 14.80m (48'6.75") to
finish third in the event. Obemeata leads the America East in
the event this season.

Also in the field events, junior Ray Stinsman
III (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) posted a weight throw of
15.72m (51'7.00"), a personal-best. This mark moves
Stinsman up to eighth all-time in school history and into the
top-ten in the conference this season.

UMBC now has a little over a week off from competition before
heading to Boston, Mass. for the America East
Championships. The two-day championship meet will be
held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center beginning on
Monday, Feb 11.